Well, I see that my last entry was 13 May! Hard to believe where the days go.
Since then we have had Katherine and James’ birthday on 20 May and then mine on 28 May. We enjoyed dinner with Katherine, Angus and the children and Jill & Graham for Katherine’s birthday but also were able to have a virtual drink with James for his birthday.
New Zealand is currently in Covid-19 level 2 - social distancing, limited numbers in cafes, no cinemas open. Shops are open but you have to either scan a QR Code or register manually that you are there, sanitise your hands before you enter, and the staff have to sanitise everything you touch.
We decided at the Information Centre at the Dunedin Botanic Garden that it was all too hard - social distancing would have applied without a problem but having to sanitise surfaces would have felt like preying on the visitors and following them around to see what they touched. The Return to Work Plan to be implemented and displayed was pretty difficult for a volunteer group, so we have decided to wait until we are further down the track towards normality - that might come sooner than we anticipated as today the Prime Minister has talked about how things will be if we go to Level 1 which will be discussed by Cabinet and advised on Monday 8 June.
I am involved with the church, and likewise, we are working on Return to Work protocols which involves cleaning all buildings before we return and then maintaining a level of cleanliness and surface cleaning which we have not previously had to maintain. It is important socially that our community be allowed to return to church but it needs to be in a safe way and with an environment which is acceptable and meets the current regulations.